Eeeeek! A mouse!

Way to go Blondie! She trapped a mouse under a board outside of our house. It was stuck and a little part of its body was sticking out. The kids were thrilled when Blondie trapped the little mouse. "Oh, it's so cute! Ooooh! Oooooh! It's sooooooooo cute!" was heard over and over and over again. I tried to sick Blondie on the mouse, but the girls responded with, "No! don't hurt it Blondie!!!" We (Jon) flushed it out with water and caught it in an old ice cream bucket.

Jon brought the mouse-infested ice cream bucket in the house and pretended he accidentally let it loose in the house which sent me into a 1-second frenzy until I saw his face grinning from ear to ear.

We showed the friends across the street :)

Then, Jon and "the gang" walked it over to the other side of the field.

One last gander, and then he let it run away. Yes, they asked if they could pet it. The answer was a resounding "no!"

Yes, it was majorly gross. I told Joy, if it wasn't for "you kids" I would have stabbed that part that was sticking out from under the board and done away with it! Joy looked at me with disgust and said, "Oh mother! Just like Nanny and that gopher!" I'm sure she wondered, how could her mother be so cruel?!?! I told Joy that when I see a mouse about the house, I think of the black plague... I also told her she brightened my life immensely.

Jon was a VERY good daddy to catch the nasty thing unharmed and let it loose in the field.

Hanging out at the condo.

Here's some pics of us hanging out at the condo...

I think we had plenty of sunscreen.


One thing I LOVE about the condo is we get away from ALL the STUFF!!! We had some books, pencils and papers, matchbox cars and a few stuffed animals. We also had the little loops for making potholders. The girls got creative and made a ton of little girl dolls dressed in various ways with them. I was VERY impressed with their creativity.

Glory turned her little stuffed animal into the character, Buck, from the movie, Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs. He's even holding a little sword. :) Very creative Glory! (But why is my big toe in the picture?!?!)


Looking out our balcony while the kids were feeding the seagulls.



My mom bought the kids a loaf of bread especially for the seagulls. What a treat!

My mom and her crazy beach hair. Love ya mom!!!

A Visit to the Pier

One day we braved the heat and headed to the pier to see what we could see. Here are some of the sights and a few pics of us :)


A pelican was hanging out with us at the pier. I think these might be one of my favorite birds. They're just so cool. When the girls and I were out in the ocean, one scared me half to death as it snuck up and flew about 2 feet from our faces. I had no idea how large they were; its wing span must have been at least 4 feet. We screamed and hollered and hurried out of the water. I had had enough excitement.

This looks so cool. Maybe some day we will brave such an adventure.

There was a dolphin or two swimming around the pier - I think this is the closest we've been to one in the wild. We were happy to get this picture of his fin barely sticking out of the water. If you click on the picture to see it zoomed, you can see it much better. :)

Joy, Glory and Memaw! Love the pose Joy!

Me and Freedom! I love to have pictures of me and the kids - they're so rare! At this point, Freedom was really hot and very ready to go. The excitement of the dolphin had waned.

Memaw's at Port A!

After Jon had to return to work, Memaw joined us in Port A! Every morning we slept late, woke up and hung out and drank coffee. I enjoyed visiting with you Mom! We had a big breakfast and then by early afternoon headed to the beach. We hung out at the beach for several hours and then went swimming for another hour or so until it was almost dark. We didn't bore of the daily routine. Here's some pictures from the beach and pool.

One day Glory and Freedom decided to walk hand in hand to the beach. Warms a mother's and a memaw's heart!

Ug, the girls were feeding seagulls on the beach. There was a large group of junior high girls at the beach doing this and my kids got sucked into the fun. As an adult, all I thought about was the bird poop that was being left behind. They peed on my mom and I and there was splotches of poop all over the beach afterward. Life is so much brighter when you're a child!

Here they are feeding them out in the water. The day before, I was innocently eating a cheetoh when a seagull snatched it from my hand when it was literally two inches from my mouth! I was so upset. I thought it was a one-time freak incident, so went ahead and got another handfull of cheetohs. I thought I was bending over sufficiently, hiding my stash and as I went to eat another one it happened again! Then, my only solution was to scream like a crazy lady and run around frantically. Cheetohs were flying everywhere - I mean, "it" touched my finger and could have touched my face! They stole a cheetoh from the girls too; they thought it was wonderful. Didn't I say life is so much brighter when you're a child?

Freedom playing in the sand. :)

Our last day at the beach we found this jellyfish. Joy wanted to save the jellyfish but we wouldn't let her. We were glad it was out the last day, because, as my mom says, if there's one jellyfish, there's more jellyfish. We went out in the water one last time after we saw this guy, but we were so freaked out that we didn't stay in long. The next day we left, but that morning I went down to the beach to jog and sure enough I saw 5 jellyfish on shore.

Memaw in the pool with Glory and Joy.

Joy and Freedom in the pool. He's kissing her behind that hair he's holding on to.

Joy and Glory playing in the pool. They play together so well at the condo with no other kids around. The love they lavished on each those two weeks was just so heart-warming to watch.

Every time I went to take a picture of Freedom doing something cute in the pool, he would stop and get out to pose like this. Crazy kid. Yes, Freedom, you are very strong, fast and cool. God made you that way. I pray you use your powers for good.

More kissy-kissy at the pool. LOL!


Pretty girl!

Swim Team

The kids did swim team for the first time this summer. Their team was the Piranhas. The girls learned a lot of strokes - freestyle, backstroke, butterfly and breast stroke. They swam Mon-Thurs 8:00 - 9:00PM from May 12th until school was out. Then, they swam Tues-Fri 10:00 - 11:00AM through the entire month of June. We were glad when it was finally over, but did enjoy it. They improved greatly and I was really proud of them! Unfortunately, I never got my camera up to the pool or to any of the swim meets! A mom took pictures with her camera and she got these shots of my girls, so you can at least see them in their little swim caps :) I only have access to the thumbnails and had to purchase some 4x6 prints from her.

The Big Sand Castle Store

There's a store between Port Aransas and Corpus Christi that has a big sand castle front with a big mermaid. Jon thought the kids might like to see it up close so we turned around and stopped at the store. Someone offered to take a family pic but cut off the mermaid's head...it's nice to have a picture of all of us though!

Jon took a picture that shows all of the cool mermaid.

Happy 4th of July

Grandma reminded us to watch the fireworks at Port A. They are truly the best I've ever seen! We parked at the marina and found a grassy spot to place our chairs. It seemed as though we were right under the fireworks and they might even fall on us. I love this picture because Freedom's little fingers can be seen waving in the air as he reclined in my lap to watch the show and celebrate something he doesn't yet quite understand. Thank you Grandma! :)

Freedom's response to the fireworks was "This is AWESOME!"

Glory's response was to yell out, "I'm your biggest fan!"

Joy's response was to say, "This is magnificent." Blondie was terrified and Joy loved holding and comforting her through all the booms.

And so dear ones, Joy, Glory and Freedom, my prayer is for you to understand your history. Referring to Indepence Day, John Adams said, "It ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations, from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward forever more." And who was John Adam's "God Almighty?" John Adams said, "The Ten Commandments and the Sermon on the Mount contain my religion." The great men and women who founded our country were truly just regular, ordinary people like those you encounter today. They were far from perfect. The difference is that they were founded on God. When George Washington took over as President, he felt deep in his heart that he needed to add the words, "So help me God." He understood the song we sing today from Psalm 121:1-2, "...Where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, maker of heaven and maker of earth."

Freedom, the ability to choose, is wonderful, but it comes at a price - the price of life. And then once attained , it must be guarded from our own sinful hearts. As our country continues to use its freedom to be selfish & greedy, we pay the consequences of selfishness and greed, which ultimately is death.

This post is for my children. When you say, "This is awesome!," "I'm your biggest fan!" and "This is magnificant!" The root of all that is, as John Adams put it, "God Almighty."

Daddy's in Port A.

Daddy and Blondie joined us at the condo on Thursday and we have thoroughly enjoyed our family time away from the constant chores of life at home. Jon's been playing Old Maid with the kids and Freedom is now old enough to TOTALLY be in the game. He fake cries when he gets the Old Maid and he has the cutest victory dance I've ever seen.

On the 4th of July, Jon took us to see Ice Age Part III. Highly recommended movie for kiddos. We had lunch at Whataburger and then hit the beach... The girls have been waiting on pins and needles for their dad to take them out pretty deep. (They have to stay waste-deep if Daddy or Memaw are not here). Freedom took a nap on the beach and I just sat in the sand next to him and enjoyed doing nothing.

They found this beauty while out with Jon. Of course after a picture and a kiss they put him back in the ocean in hopes that it would continue to live. These girls love life and mourn at the death of even the smallest creature. They keep working on me to capture flies in the house and let them go outside. Good luck with that girls.


They continue to catch these little fish and pray they hold their breath long enough for a picture.

Pretty Pics at The Birding Center